Thiol functionalized reduced graphene oxide as a base material for novel graphene-nanoparticle hybrid composites

•We report the synthesis of thiol functionalized reduced graphene oxide (TrGO).•TrGO was synthesized by refluxing graphene oxide with phosphorus pentasulfide.•A novel base material for graphene-nanoparticle hybrid materials was created.•The creation of TrGo from GO was proven by UV–Vis, XPS and FTIR spectroscopy.•CdSe nanocrystal-TrGO and silver nanoparticle-TrGO hybrids were achieved.

In this work, the synthesis and characterization of thiol functionalized reduced graphene oxide (TrGO) as a novel base material for the generation of graphene-nanoparticle hybrid materials is reported. TrGO was directly synthesized by refluxing graphene oxide (GO) with phosphorus pentasulfide (P4S10). The introduction of sulfur containing chemical groups and the partial reduction of GO to TrGO were proven by UV–Vis, XPS and FTIR spectroscopy. CdSe nanocrystal-TrGO (CdSe-TrGO) as well as silver nanoparticle-TrGO (Ag-TrGO) hybrid materials are achieved by attachment of the respective nanoparticles to the thiol groups of the graphene using self-assembly decoration. The resulting hybrid materials were investigated by TEM and photoluminescence quenching experiments.

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